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Ramapithecus

Ramapithecus
räməpəthē´kəs, –pĭth´ə– [key], an extinct group of primates that lived from about 12 to 14 million years ago, for a time regarded as a possible ancestor of
Australopithecus
and, therefore, of modern humans. Fossils of
Ramapithecus
were discovered in N India and in E Africa, beginning in 1932. Although it was generally an apelike creature,
Ramapithecus
was considered a possible human ancestor on the basis of the reconstructed jaw and dental characteristics of fragmentary fossils. A complete jaw discovered in 1976 was clearly nonhominid, however, and
Ramapithecus
is now regarded by many as a member of
Sivapithecus,
a genus considered to be an ancestor of the
orangutan
. See also
human evolution
.